


Oblivion

by Verunme



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Childhood Memories, Friendship, Humor, M/M, Romance, School Trip, Soriku - Freeform, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-27
Updated: 2015-12-08
Packaged: 2018-05-03 16:44:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5298740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verunme/pseuds/Verunme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What or who made the keychain for Oblivion? It's an "official" symbol for Riku, yet the keychain is identical to Sora's trademark necklace. This is Oblivion's story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Market

_Six years before Kingdom Hearts_

It was a very slow day at the market, Riku thought as he looked around at the deserted stalls. He was slightly annoyed that his mom had dragged him along even though he was 9, and thus more than old enough to stay at home, but the worst was that he was _bored_.

Some kid he knew would have spent the entire time complaining, but Riku wasn’t that kid. So he stayed silent, observing the few clients near him with an expression not even trying to hide his boredom, without pestering his mom like…

“But Mooooooom, the clock near the fruits said it’s 8! It starts in half an hour! I’m gonna be late!”

Riku stopped walking, the first smile of the day suddenly gracing his lips. That was the kid.

“We’re nowhere near done. It plays again tomorrow anyway, you know that, you watch it _again_ on Sunday.”

“But tomorrow’s not the same! Everyone else will have seen it!”

By now his mom had stopped too, also distracted by the voices whom she recognized. The low buzz of people talking and the confusing layout of the place didn’t help the two shoppers find the others. After a few more lines of arguing, Riku thought he’d pinpointed their location up ahead. That is, until the younger voice stopped suddenly.

“RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!”

The 9 year-old stumbled forward when the ball of energy and brown hair smashed into his back.

“Gee Sora, are you trying to kill me?”

“Sorry…”

Twisting himself around, Riku faced his younger friend, the smile having grown into a full-fledged grin that was quickly reflected right back at him. The two boys didn’t even notice their mothers starting their trademark sessions of small talk, falling into step behind them.

“So… what was that you were talking about?”

“What?”

Seeing an opportunity and seizing it, Riku took a second to compose himself before launching a beautifully high-pitched version of his friend’s voice.

“I’m gonna be late!”

“I don’t sound like that!”

“Sure you do!”

“Aw Riku! That’s not true! And I was talking about Swords&Shields! I’m gonna miss it just because my mom takes AGES to choose every fruit she buys.”

“You still watch that?”

“Of course I do! And my dad and I read the comics together every Friday evening!”

Had this been any other of his “lesser” friends (he knew it was mean to think of them like that, but it’s not as if it wasn’t true), Riku would probably have made fun of them for liking such childish stories at their age (He’d moved on to “Dragons of the Night” himself). But this was Sora so he just smiled and kept going. Plus, Sora was a year younger than him, a fact he knew very well shouldn’t ever be mentioned for any reason whatsoever if one wished to avoid being given “the pout”.

By now the quatuor had made it out of the grocery section of the market, and moved on to the clothing section, stopping whenever one of the mothers spotted an interesting thing. Of course, to the oh-so-late Sora, this felt like every single piece.

“I’m so missing it now! It’s not fair, all those clothes will be there tomorrow!”

“What do you like about this show anyway?

“Well, there’s Uther.”

Reaching into his far off memories from back when he watched the show too, Riku took a guess.

“Wasn’t that the prince or something like that?”

“Yeah, he’s awesome! Like, he has that super cool sword…”

Poor Riku didn’t know what he got himself into with that one. By the time they reached the end of the cloth racks, he knew all there was to know about Uther. His genealogy, food preferences, hometown, favorite sports, Sora had an answer for _everything_. It reached a point where even if Riku really liked Sora, this required a big hit to finally shut him up.

“Gee, Sora, are you in love with this guy?”

His friend’s face drained of all color for one second, before turning red so fast Riku got a bit scared.

“I AM NOT!”

“Gee Sora, I was joking.”

“You’d better be!”

Wondering what had gotten into his best friend to get such a heavy reaction out of him, Riku thought it best to just move on in silence, following their moms into the jewelry and accessory section. Sora being Sora, it didn’t take him long to go back to his usual cheerful self, and he resumed babbling about everything going through his brain (which Riku was glad didn’t include any more Swords&Shields). They settled comfortably against a signpost, shoulders touching because of the necessary proximity, and just stayed there as their moms spent a long time looking at rings.

A stranger accidentally stepped on the older boy’s foot as he passed by and kept going without saying anything, leading Riku to look around and follow him with his eyes, annoyed at the man’s lack of proper manners.

As he started turning back towards Sora, something glinting off two stalls down on the other side of the alley caught Riku’s eye.

“Hey, Sora?”

“hmmm?”

Realizing with a hint of guilt that he’d been ignoring his friend for a good few minutes (not that said friend noticed), Riku tapped his shoulder and pointed to the other stall. Sora looked over, intrigued.

“You know, that prince… didn’t he have a silver crown?”

“Yeah… wait, you’re not going to make fun of me again are you?”

“No! I just thought you’d like that necklace. It look kind of like that guy’s crown.”

Riku pointed again at the necklace he’d noticed hanging off a small hook before walking over it, his friend following just after. A simple crown, made of silver-plated steel, with the most ordinary chain one could find. Yet Sora looked at it huge eyes, as if he’d just been shown the world’s biggest diamond. That is, until he saw the price tag and winced. It wasn’t really expensive, but for a kid whose money only came from lawn mowing and with a penchant for spontaneous snacking, it was too much.

“I’ll never be able to afford that…”

“Boys? Oh, there you are! Don’t wander off like that!”

Riku turned around to see his mom towering over him, a stern look on her face. Looking down, he tried to mumble an apology, only for Sora to barrel past him towards his own mother, oblivious as usual.

“Mom! Mom! Can you buy that for me! I don’t have money left… but I really want it!”

“It’s not my fault if you spend all your money Sora. We’ll be back next week anyway.”

“But mom! Someone could’ve bought it!”

“I think it’d look really good on him.”

Riku put a hand to his mouth, too late to stop the spontaneous words from pouring out and blushing a bit. He was about to try and defend himself from what he saw as “girly weakness”, but he was rescued by his own mother, smiling at Sora who looked at her like she was his last hope. He’d quickly learned that he could often influence his parents through their friends and wasn’t afraid to use that.

“He’s right. It’s a bit big for sure… but it’d fit him. Plus, it’s been weeks since I’ve last heard you complain about his antics…”

Sora’s mom pondered the situation for a few seconds, then, looking into her son’s natural puppy-eyed looked, relinquished.

“Ok, fine, I’ll pay for it. But you’ll give me your next lawn pay for it.”

Riku could only suppress a laugh when Sora literally jumped with joy, before snatching the munny being handed to him and running to the small lady tending to the stall. He returned a few seconds later, wasting no time to put the necklace on. Riku had to give it to himself, he was right. Sora did look great with it. It was still too big for him, but he figured he’d wear it long enough for the body to follow.


	2. Forgotten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sora has been wearing his necklace for nearly four years now. Much has changed in his life, including the addition of a certain red-haired girl. Riku too has changed, something new developing inside him.
> 
> Their school has organized a week long trip to the mainland. And Sora, of course, is late.

_Two years before Kingdom Hearts_

“Sora! The bus is here! They’re not going to wait for you forever you know?”

“I was just coming!”

That was a blatant lie, and Sora felt kind of bad for it as he got back off his bed, where he’d slumped back into sleep just after changing into his school uniform. He always thought having people wake up this early should be illegal.

Grabbing his schoolbag as well as the two duffel bags with all the clothes and supplies he’d need for the week long school trip he was embarking on, he ran down the stairs to the living room. Mentally thanking Riku and Kairi for warning him to prepare the night before, because of course they knew he’d fall back asleep, he gave his mom a quick hug before rushing outside where his teacher and her intern waited, not even trying to hide their annoyance.

Sora threw his bags into the luggage compartment. Once aboard, a quick look was enough to spot the very conspicuous white and red duo near the front. He could barely contain his excitement as he basically sauntered off to his friends. He loved school trips.

“Hey guys!”

“Slept late again?” Riku responded, deadpan.

Sora could only rub the back of his head in embarrassment before flopping down on the seat next to Riku. Kairi was seated near the window. Noticing she hadn’t said anything since he came up, Sora looked at her more closely, only to see her staring at him, an eyebrow raised.

“What is it… did I stain my shirt with toothpaste?”, he asked, not daring to look down.

“Did you break your necklace again?”

“My…”

Sora made a move to grab the familiar crown usually found on his chest at all times, only to hit nothing but a zipper. Eyes wide, he looked through the window, only to see the bus was far gone, not like the already annoyed teachers would’ve been willing to let him stop everything for a necklace anyway. In an instant, the excitement was gone, and he slumped back into the seat with a heavy sigh.

“Must’ve forgotten it when I changed…”

Riku put a hand to his shoulder and shook it lightly.

“Stop moping, it’ll still be there when we get back. Plus, the poor thing needs a break, you’ve worn it every single day since your mom bought it for you. And didn’t you get it because of that cartoon you used to watch?”

That was Riku for you, always ready with the right thing to say. Sora couldn’t stop himself from grinning a bit.

“Guess you’re right. It’s just… I’m so used to having it I feel naked when it’s not there.”

“What’s the story behind it anyway? I’ve always seen you with it but I don’t think you’ve ever told me where it comes from”, Kairi interjected.

“You see, Sora was _really_ into that cartoon when we were young and this prince had a crown like that, so when he saw it at the market, he basically begged his mom into getting it.”

“And you still wear it?”

“Well… by now it’s more because it was kind of a gift from you Riku. Or at least that’s how I see it.”

Riku raised an eyebrow. Internally, he couldn’t quite pinpoint why, but he felt really good hearing that. Neither of the boys noticed the red hair’s eyes narrow.

“As the gift-giver then, I forgive your forgetfulness, Sora.”

Sora grinned back at him, and that, Riku thought, was more than enough.

_Later, during the evening_

“Man, that museum was _boring_. And it’s totally not fair that they split the group like that, we didn’t even see Kairi today.”

Sora dropped onto his sleeping bag, cross-legged. Riku, who, unlike his brunette of a friend, took showers that lasted less than thirty minutes, lifted his eyes from his textbook.

“Anything that doesn’t involve running and screaming bores you. Tomorrow’s hike day, so look forward to that and stop whining.”

“Gee Riku, you could try to be nice once in a while.”

Huffing, Riku returned to his book. He didn’t like being mean to Sora… but he didn’t want to be _too_ nice. He was already nicer to him than basically everyone else, and he didn’t want people to suspect what was going on inside him. It didn’t help that Sora spent the whole day mentioning Kairi every ten minutes and happened to be a forgetful dork and went to the showers without a shirt ready. Considering he swam in all his clothes most of the time, it wasn’t often Riku saw his friend shirtless… and he didn’t like the thoughts that came with the sight.

“Oh crap, I forgot my necklace in the showers!” Sora exclaimed, his voice muffled by the fabric currently being pulled down over his head.

Riku stretched out an arm without looking up, intending to grab Sora’s arm before he stood up and left on a useless venture… but his friend was faster and the hand grasped a very round and firm surface. Sora’s breath hitched and he froze for a second while Riku pulled back his arm, his face furiously blushing.

“You… erm… you left it home…”

“Oh… eh… yeah!”

Giggling nervously, Sora sat back down, sliding his legs inside the sleeping bag and fluffing the pillow vigorously, trying not to look at Riku. The other was busy trying to forget the last few seconds and hoping no one else saw the “accident”, or there would be no end to the teasing.

“So… hike day tomorrow then. Do you think we’ll see animals? I want to see a big one!”

Chuckling, and glad the incident had been easily moved past, Riku turned around with a smug face.

“Sora, if we see anything big around here, chances are we’ll be told something like “run, run for your lives”.”

“Guess so… Anyway, I’m tired, so I’ll try to go to bed right now. Good night!”

After taking the time to finish the sentence he was reading, Riku turned to his friend, only to end up with an expression halfway between bewilderment and fondness. No matter how many times he saw it happen, he couldn’t believe how ridiculously fast Sora could fall asleep. The teen was already fast asleep, on his stomach, face towards Riku and arms beneath the pillow. Deciding it was late enough for him too, Riku closed his book and was about to slide down into his own sleeping bag when he gave Sora one last look. Sighing again, he reached over, pulled his friend’s sleeping bag flap over his back (essentially tucking him in) and zipped it up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, Kairi and Riku were supposed to have much more of a conflict at the end, but I realized that it's likely the school would separate the boys from the girls at bedtime. I didn't want to delete the whole scene so I fell back on embarrassing ass-groping. Can't believe I actually wrote that... Ah well, Sora does have a great butt worth mentioning.
> 
> Things will move on the next day, in Chapter 3: The Replacements


	3. Replacements

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sora's necklace is sad and alone, on a bedside table.
> 
> What shall take up the torch of accessorizing our favorite brunette's neck?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those thinking Kairi and Riku are a bit out of character in terms of their rivalry, it'll all be explained in the next parts.

“Do not forget to bring your raincoats! It might look sunny outside right now, but we must be ready for any eventuality!”

Heeding his teacher’s recommendation, Sora snatched the raincoat he’d packed, or rather shoved, into his duffel bag and transferred it to the backpack he’d carry for the day. Looking up, he checked to see how far Riku was in his own packing up. Of course, he was already almost done.

The silver-haired boy was sitting cross-legged on his sleeping bag (which would be left as-is, considering the group was spending the next night in the same place), his backpack placed of its back in front of him, all pockets opened. He held a short paper in his left hand, his right pointing successively to each item as he made sure he had everything.

“Raincoat, check. Walking stick, check. Flashlight, check. Camera, check. Spare batteries, check. Compass, check. Map, check. Notepad, check. Pen, check. Lunch, check. Spare clothes, check. Snacks, check…”

Sometimes, Sora was annoyed at how much better organized than him Riku consistently was. Today was different – having not made his own list, Sora just listened to Riku’s and checked his own supplies. Not long after, the adults lead the group outside, where they joined the girls who’d been sleeping in the host community center’s second gymnasium.

After a minute of sifting through the crowd, the duo, or more accurately Sora with Riku in tow, finally found Kairi. She was already in a very intense conversation with Selphie and Tidus, apparently regarding some event that happened to them the previous day when the group was split.

Sora felt an emotion he couldn’t quite put his finger on, something unpleasant about not being there, but he brushed it off and showed off his trademark grin as he interrupted the conversation with a joyful salutation. Riku followed suit with a more subdued, but still friendly hello of his own.

However, he didn’t quite like the way Kairi’s face lit up when she saw Sora, and how she swiftly plunged a hand into one of her red backpack’s many pockets. Sora seemed equally dubious, as she hadn’t even bothered to say greet them back, unlike Tidus and Selphie. After a few seconds of rummaging, followed by a short-lived expression of victory, she smiled widely at Sora and pulled out an object out.

It was a seashell, or at least an imitation of a seashell, painted metallic crimson. It was attached to a rather long chain, so as to make it a pendant.

“Here, you said you felt weird without a necklace, so when I saw that one in the souvenir shop at the Marine Life museum, I thought you might like it.”

“Thank you!”

Riku merely looked on in silence as Sora took the jewelry from Kairi’s offering hand and slipped it around his neck. While he was grateful his friend had been too quick for the girl to actually try and place the necklace herself, he nevertheless felt… furious. And he hated himself for it. Sora was clearly happy to have gotten a gift, and it’s not like his neck was a competition. Hell, two days ago he didn’t even bother noticing the crown necklace anymore.

“How do I look?” the brunette asked, snapping his friend out of his thoughts.

“Oh… well, it looks good.”

It was true. It truly did look good. And Riku hated that it did.

He sensed Kairi eyeing him, but before he could initiate any sort of staredown, the buses arrived and the group was ushered into them by overworked and stressed teachers.

  _Four hours later_

After nearly three hours and a half of not-so-well-maintained footpaths, the small group of students known as “Team Lobster” made it to the midway base camp, which was actually a rural town halfway up the mountain, where everyone would eat. After lunch, students’ teams would be shuffled, the teachers intending to foster bonds amongst as many of their pupils as possible instead of reinforcing pre-existing friendships, and then sent to various activities with local tourist entertainers and artisans.

And this is how Riku, Tidus and a dozen others landed in the workshop of sculptor. The two boys were certainly not looking forward to the next two hours, not when Kairi, from Team Crab, was enjoying a storyteller’s tales and Sora and Selphie, part of Team Dolphin, were probably having the time of their lives at the local bakery (Both of them having pronounced appreciation for the culinary arts, an side of Sora not many were acquainted with).

“Welcome to my workshop, teens. Please do not touch anything unless I tell you to do so.”

The man was much older than Riku had expected. He had to be at least seventy. His face looked hard enough, but his hands were the most striking. It was very obvious they had spent a lifetime of hard work, the calluses overwhelming every surface to form a thick, resilient, albeit cracked, hide. A bit short, the man was of a stout build, and moved with heavy steps.

He strutted towards the back of the room, beckoning the youths to follow him through a small door with a hand gesture. Riku took point, more out of having been the first inside rather than any particular enthusiasm. There, he found himself before a large, rectangular work table with enough stools for every student. On the tabletop, in front of every seat, a neatly distributed ensemble of tools as well as three pieces of rock.

“Please, sit down.”

Complying, the students took their seats, Riku and Tidus sitting next to each other. As the old man started on a very lengthy, and probably boring, speech, Riku stared at the contents of his kit. It didn’t take a genius to understand what exactly they’d be doing, and he was having an idea…

_Two hours and thirty minutes later_

“Has everyone found their new team members yet? Once your team is complete, do not forget to come see Ms. Blake to confirm before leaving. I’ll see you all at the summit in a few hours!”

Only a dozen or so teams hadn’t left, including Riku’s. He was now a member of Team Clam. Apparently, one of the teams was late of finishing up their activity. He was weakly attempting to strike a conversation with his other team members when their final teammate finally showed up. Or rather nearly barreled into Riku, having run from the bakery as fast as he could and not bothering about slowing down before it was almost too late.

“Sorry! We didn’t watch the clock.” Sora exclaimed, with his usual cheery tone.

While many of the other students grumbled in annoyance, Riku couldn’t bring himself to be irritated, not when Sora still had flour in his hair. The brunette was radiant as he drew everyone’s attention to the big box he was carrying.

“But, I have cupcakes! One for each of you.”

He quickly distributed them to everyone, and it wasn’t lost on Riku that his seemed to have been prepared specifically for him, from having his favorite flavor in the frosting to being decorated the same color scheme as his usual outfits.  

Cupcakes in hand, and the box properly disposed of in a nearby recycling bin, Team Clam finally moved out into the woods. A student whom Riku recognized as being from the same science class had the map and took point. The two friends trailed a bit behind, bringing up the rear.

It never stopped to amaze Riku how unlikely it was that Sora was so great at cooking. The unassuming teen would be one you’d expect to live on fast food whenever his parents weren’t home, yet he could prepare a multiple course meal by himself like it was nothing. So he savored his oh-so-tasty mint-flavored cupcake in silence, blessing whatever god there may be that Sora had been sent to a bakery of all things. It is then that he remembered his plan, and almost choked on the fluffy pastry.

Quickly and forcibly swallowing the bite that almost ended him, he produced a rather unpleasant sound that prompted Sora to look at him worriedly.

“You okay?”

“Oh, yes. Here, I had something for you…”

Twisting around to rummage through his backpack’s side pockets, Riku retrieved his craft. Taking Sora’s now outstretched hand (a move that made him feel slightly embarrassed after the fact), he place the item within. His friend stared at it for a few seconds, before looking up with a wide smile.

“You made that for me?”

“Yeah, uh, we had to make something small and simple, so I thought maybe I could give you that to… well, you know, replace the other one for a few days.”

Within Sora’s hand was a simple crown, cut into a pale brown rock. The material was of course cheap, and the craftsmanship rather dubious, but the effort was there. And Sora being Sora, he didn’t care that the right spike was a bit shorter than the left, or that the bottom wasn’t properly smoothed. He still looked like a five-year old on Christmas morning. Or just Sora on Christmas morning actually.

A small holed peg had been glued to the backside of the crown, so it could be worn as a necklace. Riku had to make do with a simple string of thin rope, however. It didn’t faze Sora, who wasted not a second putting it on.

He was frustrated to see that both Riku’s new gift and Kairi’s pendant happened to have the same length, and thus ended up fighting for space on his chest. After a few seconds of pondering, he carefully took off the red seashell and stored it securely in his backpack, much to Riku’s satisfaction.

“Thank you, Riku!”

 

Over the course of the following week, Sora attempted to alternate between the two necklaces as best he could. He wasn’t stupid, and the looks Kairi and Riku gave him constantly made it clear he’d become some sort of battlefield for them, even though he didn’t understand why. Eventually, Riku’s creation gave way, the right spike snapping off. Its maker was somewhat satisfied to see his friend carefully pack the remains, protecting them with a hefty layer of clothes. He did blush at the idea his gift was then nudged somewhere between a shirt and a pair of pumpkin-patterned boxers.

The necklace remains in a small wooden box up on a shelf in Sora’s room to this day.

As of Kairi’s seashell, it remained a common fixture around Sora’s neck for a few months, but immediately after the end of the trip it lost more and more ground to the original silver crown necklace until it, too, ended up in some corner of a bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god this chapter is such a mess of random thoughts that flew in every direction. I couldn't bring myself to cut any of it.
> 
> The angst starts next chapter, finally I got there, believe me!


	4. The Raft

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which crowns are made, a raft is built and lives are changed forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the mandatory partially-a-transcript-of-cutscenes chapter.
> 
> I know I said I'd get to Oblivion proper in this chapter, but five (yes, five) attempts to write all of it in a coherent chapter later, I had to admit defeat. I couldn't fit it all in one chapter or it would have been far too exposition-heavy (this one is so brace yourselves anyway).

Riku felt rather dejected today. While he’d always been an excellent student, even the best have their bad days, and last week’s math exam had been one such day. Of course, for Riku, a bad mark meant anything below 90%, so many would roll their eyes at his unsatisfactory 88.5%.

To clear his head, he decided to head off to the play island earlier than usual. A few rounds of one of their many obstacle courses would probably suffice.

It was shortly after finishing the fifth and final one, as he laid on the grass, just beyond the treeline, panting, with his skin glistening with a thin sheen of sweat, and his mind considering the idea of going for a swim, if only to prevent anyone commenting on the inevitable stink he was probably developing, that he heard voices. Having heard those two so many times before, it didn’t take him more than a second to recognize Sora and Kairi, having probably just arrived on the dock nearby.

He couldn’t help but smile at the idea. Seeing the two would be nice. Especially Sora, whose contagious attitude of endless happiness surely wouldn’t fail to cheer him up a bit. As of Kairi, he’d certainly warmed up to her in the year that passed since the school trip. The two had, in a way, and without even talking about it, entered in a sort of truce after a few weeks. Over time, their friendship had actually developed to be rather strong. It wasn’t lost on Riku that it was quite ironic that he now considered Kairi to be as close of a friend as Sora had been until his feelings towards his younger friend started becoming deeper.

Deciding he’d wasted enough time lying down, and that Sora and Kairi would probably follow him for his swim, Riku got on his feet and started down the small trail heading down towards the beach. He moved silently, hoping for an opening that might allow him to cause one or even the two of them to jump in surprise.

As he approached, he was finally able to hear and understand their conversation more clearly. Kairi appeared to have been telling some sort of story, but having not heard the beginning, Riku couldn’t be sure of anything.

“… and then, Wakka arrived. He hadn’t noticed. I can’t believe he actually hadn’t noticed!”

Riku was almost startled by the insane laughing fit that Sora burst into. Had he not been able to see his brown spikes from that far away, he might even have mistaken him for Tidus.

All of a sudden, the older teen was no longer all that interested in joining up with his friends. He hadn’t heard Sora laugh like that in a long, long time. Months, even. His friend had an easy laugh, but it was the very first time Riku ever heard him laugh like that because of anyone else but him.

There was the time an ice cream vendor’s machine had broken down and splayed melted ice cream all over Riku’s clothes.

There was the time Riku told him that joke about the old man living down their streets. Not being a joker by nature, he’d been rehearsing it for over a week.

There was the time they were camping with Selphie, Wakka and Tidus and Riku had pranked the other two boys in the middle of the night.

He, however couldn’t find a single instance someone else had gotten that laughter out of Sora. And it made his stomach sink. A feeling he had managed to avoid for quite a long time, and that he had hoped he’d gotten over, welled up deep inside his bowels.

Clenching his fists, Riku turned around and headed back into the woods, sitting on the edge one of the obstacle course’s wooden boxes. Taking his head in his hands, the teen closed his eyes, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down a bit.

It was nothing, Sora was just having fun with one of their friends, nothing more.

But as soon as the thought had run its course through his mind, Riku knew it was a lie he was telling himself. Even though he’d tried to ignore it, he’d known Sora for long enough to know that he his attitude when Kairi was around had been changing, and fast.

Riku didn’t even know when he picked the rock up, or when he dug in the schoolbag he’d discarded nearby when he arrived to retrieve a small set of tools.

_Several months later_

It had been quite some time since the “laughter incident”, as Riku often referred to it in his own mind. Things hadn’t really gotten better, at least not from his point of view. He could feel, or at least thought he could feel, Sora slipping away from him, slowly but surely.

That’s when he proposed his craziest idea yet. They should leave, the three of them. On a raft of all things. He’d gotten the idea one evening, when his memory was running wild and he was remembering the many things he’d done with Sora. Then an old face surfaced. He wasn’t even sure if he’d actually met that man or if it was all a wild child’s hallucination turned false memory, but he remembered a talk about worlds and protecting what mattered. Ignoring the small part of his mind realizing he really had no conception of stranger danger back then, his mind got to work.

Sora had taken little convincing, having always been drawn towards adventure, and he then convinced Kairi in a grand total of 15 seconds, with the aid of his legendary “pout of doom”. Riku would of course have preferred to go with Sora alone, but he wasn’t foolish enough to think he had a chance at that happening. At least he’d be close to Sora for the whole trip, no matter how long they’d be gone.

It is with this mindset that he’d been working alongside the two others in the preparations for their journey. It was almost ready now. The next day they’d probably be done, if Sora didn’t go sleep in some corner again like he always did (and that Riku found endearing, but he’d never say it out loud).

It was getting somewhat late, and Riku went on towards the docks, intending to go home, and to his bed, early to be well-rested for the following day. He was nearing the dock when, in an all too familiar setting, he heard Sora and Kairi talking in the distance.

“… take the raft and go together, just the two of us!”

Riku froze. His mind went totally blank at the thought. He heard Sora’s response, which basically amounted to a gasp, and didn’t even bother listening to Kairi’s follow up.

He hadn’t protested. Sora had said nothing against the idea.

Mere seconds later, Riku was in the woods, running. He had never felt so… betrayed. So unloved. It didn’t take him long to reach his usual spot. A tree stump  he’d found a few weeks after “the laughter incident”, away from the more enjoyable parts of the island, and with plenty of rocks to go around. If someone ever checked the bottom of the stream nearby, they’d find a stupefying amount of small crowns made of rock.

Riku knew enough about psychology to know it was a compulsive coping mechanism, but he didn’t care. It was the only way he could calm himself, reason with himself, when he felt like that. So he picked a rock from the neat piled he assembled over time and uncovered the toolbox he’d hidden in a bush nearby, and got to work.

One wasn’t enough this time. He didn’t know how many he made, especially now that he was awfully fast at it, but his fingers hurt and the sun was nearly down when he reached his decision, the inevitable conclusion. He’d have to take the raft by himself. Get away from all of this. From Sora, from Kairi, from his family, from his friends. He’d leave it all behind.

And that’s how Riku ended up back on the beach, a stone crown held so hard in his fist that it cut into his skin. Sora and Kairi’s boats were long gone, he was alone on the island. He wondered if his parents were looking for him. Probably not, they were probably still at work, even at this ungodly hour, and thought he was being the good boy they raised and already in bed. Sora was probably at home about to eat dinner in family. Riku envied that sometimes, especially when he was offered to eat there. Sora was probably talking about how much he liked Kairi to his mother however, and that thought alone caused him to hurl the rock as far as he could, screaming in a mix of anger and despair. He fought back tears as he watched the fragile thing break against a tree. His eyes caught on the larger piece, following its arcing trajectory inland, until it landed near the treehouses. Near the secret place.

Looking at it, he felt strangely compelled to go there. The raft could wait, he had a few more hours before anyone would really notice him missing anyway. So he moved towards the dark opening. Somehow, deep down, he felt something important was going to happen in there very, very soon.

_Ninety minutes later_

Riku felt liberated. He could leave this place now. He’d be away from all of this. For his pain, and their causes. The door was open, the way was clear. He could see other worlds now, and forget this hellhole he was born in.

He was standing on the paopu tree’s island, waiting for the darkness to take him away to a better place, when he noticed Sora coming. With quick thinking, his plan changed. Trying to keep his cool composure, he did his best to let his friend think he hadn’t seen him arrive.

“Where’s Kairi? I thought she was with you!”

“The door has opened…”

Yes, this could work. If he could just convince him, he could take Sora with him. They’d be together in their journey. Back like it was when they were having adventures in their minds on this very island. It’d be for real though.

“What?”

“The door has opened, Sora! Now we can go to the outside world!”

It’s be just the two of us. Even if Sora never came to love him like he did, they would still have a stronger bond than ever, stronger than anything Sora could have with anyone else.

“What are you talking about? We’ve gotta find Kairi!”

Riku almost responded in anger, but he knew this moment was critical. He had to get Sora onboard with him _now_. He never considered himself a good liar, but he gave this one all he had.

“Kairi’s coming with us!”

Seeing Sora’s remaining reluctance start to fade a bit, Riku decided to take a big risk and push a card that usually worked when he used it on Sora: fear of being considered a coward.

“Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There’s no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can’t let fear stop us! I’m not afraid of the darkness!”

“Riku…”

He had him! Or so Riku thought, as he saw Sora step forward to take his outstretched hand. He hadn’t even seen the pool of darkness form at his feet, or the tendrils that emerged from it to engulf his body. He hadn’t understood that Sora was actually trying to save him. It would take him a long time to understand, and by then, it would be far too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, here it is, no less than four days after the initial publication date I intended because I couldn't write this stupid thing to save a life for some reason.
> 
> All thanks to KH13.com and their playlist of cutscenes that avoided me having to replay KH1's intro.


	5. Oblivion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riku pours the last of his light into one final creation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I WROTE THIS. I ACTUALLY WROTE THIS.
> 
> For you all who don't know how much this part made me suffer, this chapter was originally a one-shot. It was supposed to be the whole fic. But I couldn't write it properly, as I word-vomited Riku's past so much it was terrible. I chose to make prequel chapters. At first, there was only one. I still couldn't write the stupid thing after that, so I extracted more material and made a second, third, and eventually a fourth prequel chapter.

_Clack, clack, clack_

The sharp, repetitive noise echoed throughout the empty halls of Hollow Bastion. Maleficent, studying an ancient tome about the legendary Keyblade War in the library had just renewed the silencing spell that had allowed her to support this otherwise grating experience for the past weeks.

In any other instance, she would have smitten the source of her annoyance with the power of her dark magic. There would have been no escape from the torrent of green flames. But, this was no ordinary situation. It was careful manipulation, a project that she had started never expecting just quite how useful it would turn out to be.

_Clack, clack, clack_

The teenager had landed, utterly lost and with a heart full of despair, grief and hurt, on her doorstep. A gift from her dark ally, apparently. At first she thought him weak and useless, even wondering why it had been sent to her. However, he had quickly proved a powerful asset, assisting her in gathering the seven Princesses of Heart she required in exchange of nothing more than a promise from her.

She had never truly intended to help him, but the fact his goal ended up perfectly aligning with hers had been a blessing, as well as a hilarious twist of fate, something her encounter with a young man much like her current protégé over a decade prior had taught her was never due to mere coincidence.

She needed him for the final step of this grand plan, the one that would thrust the reins of the universe into her hands, and for this reason, she merely ignored the annoyance rather than deal with it directly.

_Clack, clack, clack_

Riku was sitting on the edge of a simple bed, the one he’d been using for the past few months. The room was small and quite simple, very similar to what he’d been used to at home, if one ignored the difference in the size of the building, and the peculiar way water flowed in this strange world. It was eerie how blank and boring the walls were. The pictures, paintings, school awards and decorations that livened up his home on Destiny Islands were all absent on these cold, stone walls.

He didn’t mind however. In fact, he was glad he wasn’t constantly subjected to reminders of his fallen world.

_Clack, clack, clack_

Even after warning Sora about it himself, he had been stricken hard when Maleficent confirmed his homeworld had been lost to the darkness, that he would never see it again. At least not until she could gain power and use it to restore the place. He had of course immediately enquired about his friends, with more interest in one than in the other.

It was with a heavy heart that, even though he did his best to hide it, he had her show him how quickly Sora had forged new friendships and moved on to look for Kairi. Of course he’d pretended to have been looking for Riku as well, but if he’d cared all that much, he’d have taken his hand back on the Islands and they would never have been separated.

It was then that Riku decided he was going to find Kairi himself before Sora could. She might have taken Sora away from him, but the teenager couldn’t bring himself to hold that against her. He hoped, somehow foolishly, that if he found her first, if he managed to save her and prove himself to be strong, then maybe, just maybe, he had a chance of wiggling themselves back into the trio they never should have stopped being.

He had stopped caring about Sora over time, however. Even if he hadn’t noticed it happening, the love and admiration he had for the other teen had slowly but surely given way to anger and jealousy. The adventures they were supposed to have together, he was now having them with a pair of silly talking animals. They had even stopped to take part in a stupid tournament!

_Clack, clack, clack_

It was no surprise to him that he got to Kairi first, even if it was technically Maleficent’s doing. And he did not hesitate to rub it in Sora’s face once they saw each other in Neverland. Especially after what happened inside Monstro. Even when he was about to show him Kairi, of all things he could have asked, he asked where his idiotic replacement of a friend duo was. No “are you alright?” No “have you found Kairi?” Nothing.

The darkness had slowly taken hold of his heart, an entity he did not even know was there was bidding its time, waiting for the moment he would break at last and willingly open the gates to his heart. Then, the last of the light inside him could be snuffed out, and he would become one more piece in the forging to come.

But that light, however feeble it was, still had in it to fight back. The small part of him that knew how wrong this situation had become. The slim sliver of his heart where all the love he had for his friend, as well as all the happy memories he held dear had retreated. It didn’t show itself often, and certainly not before Maleficent or even worse Sora. But when it did, it took him in a storm of sobs and tears that wouldn’t ever stop, not until he’d given into his old habits.

_Clack, clack, clack_

It is with slightly shaky hands that Riku broke off the final piece of shiny black stone he held in one hand by using a crude tool he’d found while exploring the castle’s expansive basement. The fit was over now, but its remnants still showed, his shoulders heaving and his cheeks reddened, the tears having started to dry off.

It had been the longest, most intense fit he’d ever had. The dark one lurking in the corner of his body would have smiled if he’d been able to, considering this to be the final, desperate attempt by the remainder of the boy’s light to stand up. It had failed.

Somehow, Riku itself knew this would be the last time an incident such as this would take place. Slowly, and eerily calmly, the teenager left his room and walked down the lengthy halls until he reached the large room where his six captives rested, blissfully unaware in their stasis pods. Ascending the steps before the great structure which Maleficent had told him would help recover Kairi’s heart once he had the Keyblade, Riku took a long look at the frail female form lying before him.

Inevitably, and probably sooner than later, Sora would follow his trace to this world, and their last confrontation would take place. He would seize the Keyblade that was rightfully his, and save Kairi.

Now back to his usual cold self, he looked at the small black crown he held in his hand, a disgusted scowl developing on his fair features. It represented his weakness. The rot he had to weed out. With a single, swift movement of his arm, he chucked the stone away from him. The throw had been much stronger than he’d intended, and the item landed far above, on a ledge.

 

_One week later_

 

Sora, Donald and Goofy stepped out, utterly exhausted, of the strange pocket dimension in which they’d finally found Hollow Bastion’s keyhole, guarded by a massive beast that got far too close for comfort to slaying them all where they stood.

They had expected everything would be over once the final keyhole was sealed. It was at the very least what Leon had implied. However… nothing had happened.

“Maybe we should go back to the chapel? The princesses might know what’s going on.” Donald said, his usual squawky voice showing hints of tiredness.

“Right.” Even Sora’s usual upbeat and determined tone didn’t survive the grueling battle.

The trio started down the stairs on the side of the platform when Sora glanced to his right, intending to check on Goofy who was uncharacteristically silent. While the anthropomorphic dog was all right, a glimmer in the distance caught the teenager’s eye. Up above, on a ledge. Intrigued, maybe even drawn to the sight, and letting his friends outpace him, Sora silently hopped onto the ledge, gliding to close the gap.

The closer he got, the stranger he felt. It was as if whatever was reflecting that light was calling to him. It is only when he got close enough that he understood.

“Riku…” he sighed.

It couldn’t have been left by anyone else.  Kneeling, Sora picked up the small, jet black crown. Studying it carefully, it didn’t take him long to understand it had been carved out of some rock. After using his free hand to grasp his own necklace and compare it with the piece he held, he couldn’t help but be surprised at the intricacy and precision of the craftsmanship. A twinge of nostalgia pinched his heart as he thought back upon that trip. Riku had never mentioned he’d continued sculpting after they returned, yet this was obviously not the second time he made one of those.

A lump formed in the teenager’s throat when he thought back upon the last few days’ events. He couldn’t believe how much Riku had changed. With a sad smile, he caressed the crown with his thumb.

Kairi and the others had told him how he stood up to Ansem, buying them time to escape. Sora had been elated to know that somewhere, deep down in all that darkness, his friend hadn’t vanished. He was still there, and he needed his help, and Sora was ready to go to the end of the universe if it meant he’d have a chance to save him.

A tear slid down his cheek. Riku meant the world to Sora. They’d always been together, and had promised each other, back when they were barely more than toddlers, that they always would be.

Those past months had been the longest time they’d ever been away from each other, and it had hurt more than he’d ever expected it could. He couldn’t help but wish he’d spent more time with him in recent months. He’d himself noticed that he was giving Kairi more attention, and Riku less. He hadn’t worried over it, infatuated as he was with the girl, and confident that their friendship was more than solid enough to survive seeing each other a tiny bit less, especially considering they spent most of their free time together anyway.

Sora was in love with Kairi. Or at least he was pretty sure that was love. It was the first time he ever felt that kind of thing for someone, the whole butterflies-in-the-stomach thing, so it’s not like he had anything to compare it to. However, he’d come to realize that no matter how strongly he felt towards her, Riku would always be more important to him.

He’d spent nights thinking about her, about what kind of future they could have together. He would imagine them settling down, happily married with a ton of kids or something cliché like that. But inevitably, Riku would come into the picture. No matter what kind of scenario he came up with, the other was there. He was their neighbor, sometimes his coworker, inevitably his best man, and usually godfather to at least half the babies.

Yet, the reverse was not true. On the nights he felt he’d been too awkward with Kairi, of he’d caught her glancing at Tidus, which she seemed to like way too much for his taste, he’d think of what would happen if she wasn’t to end with him. He could see it. It hurt, but he could see himself single and her leaving to go faraway with some other, more handsome and cooler man. But Riku was always there for him. They often lived together in those scenarios, like one eternal session of sleepovers. He even grew to like the idea, but less than the marriage & kids one. It comforted him to think that even if things didn’t go the best way, it wouldn’t be so bad.

End of the line, Sora had to admit he simply couldn’t picture his life without Riku by his side. And now that it might actually come to pass, he was horribly scared, even though he hid it behind goofy smiles and happy-go-lucky attitudes.

“Sora! Where are you Sora?”

Donald’s grating voice pulled Sora out of his reverie. He quickly hopped down the ledge, landing square between his two friends and startling them. Trying to hide his troubled thoughts from them, he grinned widely.

“Look what I found! I think Riku made that.”

Intrigued, the two were starting to lean in to get a better look when a flash of light caused them to flinch. Sora looked down in surprise, only to find his own hand gripping the hilt of his Keyblade.

“Whoa, careful with that!” Goofy exclaimed, as he’d almost been stabbed by the weapon.

“I didn’t intend to… do you think that means…”

Sora lifted the crown before their eyes.

This wasn’t the first time the Keyblade manifested itself after he’d picked up some trinket. Often they were gifts from people he helped, sometimes prizes he got for accomplishing something, like when Hercules handed him one after a bout in the Coliseum. Every time, he’d touch the keyblade’s chain with it, and it would change forms, attaching the new item, which he’d been told was called a keychain and dropping the previous one. He had a collection in his vest by now.

After unsuccessfully attempting to replicate the phenomena with common items, Sora had asked Merlin. While he was no expert in Keyblades, the old wizard had guessed the Keychains were special because of the memories and emotions attached to them by their owners. If Riku made this and the Keyblade reacted so strongly…

The lump in his throat returned, and Sora looked back down to his Keyblade. It was no longer the solid but crude stick of steel he originally wielded. Now, it was much more intricate, twin bars of white metal extending from a pair of wings. The teeth had turned into a colorful star. Sora had dubbed it Oathkeeper, because he’d promised Kairi he’d bring the keepsake that created the weapon back to her. Ironic, considering he was now swinging it at monsters as a weapon.

Under the silent looks of his friends, Sora touched the chain with the black crown. A flash of light later, and he was catching Kairi’s keepsake with his now free hand. Raising the transformed weapon, he admired it. It was tall and strong, much like its maker. He couldn’t help but wince at the wings, which reminded him all too well of the strange weapon his friend had wielded against him.

Giving it a few swings, Sora decided that with a weapon like this at his side, Riku wasn’t really gone. And maybe he’d even rescue him with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it, Oblivion's first appearance.
> 
> I know, Merlin never really talks about Keyblades, but Yen Sid and Mickey don't meet Sora properly until KH2, and I needed an exposition guy.
> 
> And yes, I ship Soriku really hard, but I still believe that Sora was in love, or at least thought he was in love, with Kairi through KH1, COM and most of KH2. I only see him realize his true feelings at the same time I fell for the ship, which is the infamous reunion scene in The World That Never Was.
> 
> Only one chapter left! Who does it deal with? Well, he was in character list until today. If you haven't seen it, then that'll stay a mystery for now.


End file.
